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Tuesday’s Dancing: What You Didn’t See

Cristian’s New Latin Strategy After sweating out another night of what he likes to call “Torture, the Latin Tuesday”, Cristian de la Fuente has come up with a new plan to win over the judges. “To make Carrie Ann happy,” the married stud joked, “Cheryl and I are going to make out. To make Len happy, my arms will be framed perfectly. And to make Bruno happy, we’re going to work on my footwork.” Partner Cheryl Burke was more matter-of-fact, jumping in to inform de la Fuente, “Basically, we’re going to work on everything.”

Another evening under the red lights had de la Fuente looking longingly into the audience to find some solace with his ever-present wife, Angelica. “She was probably praying throughout the whole show,” Cristian joked, “and she has a bigger connection with the higher powers than I do, so she is my connection up there.”

Goodbye, Priscilla, We Hardly Knew You Priscilla Presley took her Dancing dismissal with the same elegance that she showed on the dance floor, breaking from her final dance with partner Louis van Amstel and rushing across the parquet to hug son Navarone. The very private actress didn’t hang around to chat, but her co-stars had plenty of good things to say about their “Queen of the Ballroom.” “One of the most private that you will ever meet, and she came out and bloomed like a flower,” Marlee Matlin signed. As the cast and crew bid a hasty adieu to Presley, Mario summed up the cast’s collective emotions, saying, “She’s a great person, she has a lot of humility for who she is… We’re all going to miss her.”

The Real ‘Poopie’ Scoopy Karina Smirnoff‘s term of endearment for partner Mario now has a whole new meaning. “When we were on the stairs,” the bronzed dancer explained mischievously, “Marissa said to Mario, ‘Dude, I’m going to the bathroom three times a day, I’m sh—— my brains out!’ I’m quoting her! And Mario says, ‘Me too!'” Seems as if the stress of the ballroom is taking it’s gastrointestinal toll. “I’ll be honest,” Mario admitted with a laugh, “Marissa and I had a ‘moment’ backstage, and all I can say is, ‘Ladies first’, always.”

When the Levee Breaks Left in the bottom three, Shannon Elizabeth broke down in tears during the final commercial break. “When they give you ‘The Speech,'” the still teary-eyed actress said, referring to the final stage directions from the crew, “I started to think about what I would say, it kind of freaked me out!” The actress was able to pull herself together, aided by the combined efforts of her adoring dance partner Derek Hough, Marlee Matlin–and even judge Carrie Ann Inaba.

At one point, the sobbing and shaken Elizabeth mouthed, “I’m sorry” to Inaba, to which the judge motioned with her arms that she should breathe in deeply. After the show, Elizabeth sought out Inaba and gave the judge a hug, saying of the exchange, “She was just telling me that she is just like me, that she’s a really emotional person, and to try to breath.”

Lost in Translation Once again, Marissa Jaret Winokur defied DWTS odds, not only surviving to dance another week, but actually staying out of the bottom four. “I absolutely cannot believe that we’ve made it this far!” the Broadway star crowed, “No one in my life can believe it, all my friends are like, ‘Yeah, I’m voting, but how many friends do you have?'” A surprisingly calm Tony Dovolani could only add, “The one thing that I’ve always said is, if we make it past the first week, then are going to fall in love with her, just like I did.”

But next week’s Viennese waltz might prove more difficult than the rest. “I thought it was the Vietnamese waltz!” Jaret Winokur laughed, “I thought that it was gonna be straight out of Miss Saigon, and I was really excited. I don’t know what these dances are, that’s the reason that I’m here!” — Reagan Alexander

Photos: Kelsey McNeal/ABC

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